Brussels, 15/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU Council of Minsters and European Parliament negotiators are working on a legal basis for the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial arm of the Juncker investment plan, and aim to reach broad agreement by the end of May.
At their most recent inter-institutional negotiating meeting on Wednesday 13 May, the European Commission came up with tangible proposals for the financing arm of the Juncker investment plan. How the €16 billion guarantee for the EFSI from the EU budget is to be set up is the most controversial aspect of the draft regulation on the table (see EUROPE 11313). The Commission's proposals “follow the logic” of the European Parliament's ideas, such as the use of flexibility margins in the EU budget, and may lead to a compromise in the end, but an EP source said that a lot of work still needed to be done to improve the offering. Perceptions vary among the various political groups at the EP. Via their Twitter accounts, Manfred Weber (EPP, Germany) said the new proposals didn't go in the right direction, while Udo Bullmann (S&D, Germany) said the last trialogue has provided little in the way of tangible outcomes. A press release from the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU says that the two EU co-legislating institutions were moving closer to a compromise on the EU guarantee.
The Latvian Presidency says that progress has been made on the question of EFSI governance, with a common understanding reached on the appointment and role of the Investment Committee, whose function is to assure the 'additionality' of the projects selected by the ECB under the Juncker Plan. Progress was also reported in ensuring transparency of the EFSI operations.
The Council and Parliament pledged to reach agreement in principle by Wednesday 27 May, and the next trialogue negotiations are scheduled for Monday 18 May in Strasbourg. (Mathieu Bion)